Women’s D-I weekend wrap Feb. 3: Wisconsin and Minnesota suffer losses, Clarkson serves notice

Bemidji women's hockey (Bemidji State Athletics)
Bemidji women’s hockey upset Wisconsin. (Bemidji State Athletics)

No. 1 Wisconsin at Bemidji State
Lauren Bench stopped 29 of 30 shots and Jacqueline Kaasa and Lydia Passolt scored for Bemidji as the Beavers upset the top-ranked Badgers on Friday. With the win, Beavers coach Jim Scanlan tied for most career wins in program history. The Badgers got on the board first thanks to a goal from Mekenzie Steffen midway through the second period. Kaasa responded a few minutes later, and Passolt scored in the third to secure the win. The Badgers outshot Bemidji, 30-18, but could not come back from the 2-1 deficit. On Sunday, the teams once again played a scoreless opening frame, but the Badgers dominated in the second. Sam Cogan scored twice in about eight minutes to put Wisconsin up 2-0. Britta Curl made it 3-0 before the second intermission, and Maddie Rolfes’ empty-netter secured the win. Annie Pankowski had two assists for the Badgers in the win.

Minnesota Duluth at No. 2 Minnesota
Led by Maddie Rooney’s 42 saves, UMD won a regular-season conference game at Ridder Arena for the first time in 10 years. Minnesota outshot the Bulldogs, 42-21, but UMD would not back down in this game. The Gophers got on the board first with a goal from Sarah Potomak, but Kylie Hanley responded four minutes later to send the teams to intermission tied at one. Gabbie Hughes scored a beauty of an unassisted goal as she broke into the zone and was well-covered by Minnesota defenders but still found the back of the net to give Minnesota Duluth the 2-1 lead. Grace Zumwinkle tied it up midway through the third, and it looked like UMD might get a last-second miracle as Maggie Flaherty hit the post just before the end of regulation. Naomi Rogge was the hero in overtime for UMD to lead the Bulldogs to a 3-2 win. On Sunday, Minnesota scored twice late to earn a 5-3 win and series split. The Bulldogs had a 1-0 lead after one thanks to a goal from Anneke Linser. Minnesota responded quickly in the second with goals from Catie Skaja and Sarah Potomak before 4:30 had elapsed. Ryleigh Houston tied it back up at two a few seconds later and that’s how they headed to the locker rooms after two. Amy Potomak scored on a power play early in the third, and Hughes responded midway through the period. A late penalty led to another power-play goal, this time from Nicole Schammel with less than four minutes to play, and Taylor Wente’s empty-netter sealed the win.

No. 3 Northeastern at Connecticut
Connecticut carried a 1-0 advantage into the third period thanks to an early goal by Catherine Crawley, but the high-powered Northeastern offense proved too much for them. Northeastern outshot UConn, 14-2, in the third, and Chloé Aurard’s goal with 1:36 to play forced overtime. In the extra period, Skylar Fontaine, who had the lone assist on Aurard’s goal, won the game to give Northeastern the win.

St. Lawrence at No. 4 Princeton
Freshman Maggie Connors scored with 3.2 seconds left in overtime to earn Princeton the 4-3 win and extend the Tigers’ unbeaten streak to 20 games. Justine Reyes put St. Lawrence on the board first midway through the opening frame. Connors scored her first of the game a few minutes later on a power play, and Keiko DeClerck doubled the lead for Princeton heading into the first-period break. There would be no more scoring for nearly 40 minutes, as the teams played a hard-fought, scoreless second, and the next goal did not come until more than 13 minutes had elapsed in the third. Lydia Grauer’s power-play goal tied it up for St. Lawrence, but Sarah Fillier picked up a loose puck in the neutral zone and sniped a shot to give Princeton the lead once more. St. Lawrence pulled its goalie and Kayla Neilsen tied the game on a redirect to force overtime before Connors ended it for Princeton.

No. 4 Princeton at No. 5 Clarkson
Clarkson ended Princeton’s 20-game unbeaten streak thanks to two goals and an assist from Loren Gabel and a stellar night from Kassidy Sauvé, who had 37 saves, including 17 in the first, to help lead Clarkson to a 3-1 victory. Princeton came into the game tops in the country on the power play, but Clarkson killed all six of their chances. Gabel scored 36 seconds into the game to put the Golden Knights on the board first, but Shannon Griffin tied it up just five minutes later. Michaela Pejzlová put Clarkson ahead again midway through the period, and Gabel’s power-play goal late in the second was enough to secure the win.

No. 5 Clarkson at Quinnipiac
This game was marked by scoring early in the period, and Loren Gabel’s hat-trick powered the Golden Knights to a 3-2 win over the Bobcats on Friday. Quinnipiac got on the board first thanks to Randi Marcon’s goal just 15 seconds into the game. Gabel evened it up shortly thereafter, and the game remained tied until she found the back of the net seven seconds into the second. Lexie Adzija tied it up for the Bobcats just a few minutes later. Gabel’s game-winner came 27 seconds into the third period, and Clarkson held on to earn a 3-2 win.

Union at No. 6 Cornell
Paige Lewis scored twice, and Kristin O’Neill had a goal and two assists to lead Cornell to a 7-0 win over Union. Lewis, Jamie Bourbonnais, and Lenka Serdar had the Big Red up 3-0 after one, and they did not let up. O’Neill and Pippy Gerace scored in the second, and Maddie Mills and Lewis closed out the scoring in the third.

Rensselaer at No. 6 Cornell
The Big Red outshot RPI, 53-11, and Kristin O’Neill tallied her second career hat trick as Cornell cruised to a 5-0 win. Grace Graham and Lenka Serdar also scored for Cornell in the win. Maddie Mills tied a career-high with three assists.

Holy Cross at No. 7 Boston College
Six different Eagles scored as Boston College soared to a 6-0 win. Daryl Watts, Serena Sommerfield, Lindsay Agnew, Ryan Little, Kelly Browne, and Caitrin Lonergan each lit the lamp for BC. Sommerfield and Browne led the team with a goal and two assists each.

No. 8 Boston University at Vermont
Sammy Davis matched a career-high with four points, and Jesse Compher recorded her NCAA-leading 31st and 32nd assists as the Terriers defeated the Catamounts, 7-2. Vermont had just three first-period shots, but they got on the board first with a goal from Sini Karjalainen four minutes into the game. It took a little bit for them to get going, but when they did, BU responded in a big way. Deziray De Sousa, Mackenna Parker, and Davis scored in a span of four minutes in the first to put the Terriers up 3-1, and they did not slow down from there. Emma Wuthrich and Compher scored in the second to make it 5-1. Anna Erickson narrowed the gap for Vermont, but they could not mount a comeback. Kristina Schuler and Wuthrich scored in the third to secure the win.

No. 9 Ohio State at St. Cloud State
Ohio State set a season high with 53 shots on goal en route to a 4-0 win on Friday. Rebecca Freiburger opened the scoring midway through the first, and that would be all until the third period, when the Buckeyes wore down the Huskies. Paetyn Levis, Sophie Jacques, and Emma Maltais all netted goals in the final frame to ensure the win for Ohio State. On Saturday, the third period was once again the most potent, as the Buckeyes scored three in the third for the second straight night to lead them to a 5-0 win and weekend sweep of St. Cloud State. Tatum Skaggs, Maddie Field, Charly Dahlquist, Liz Schepers, and Jacyn Reeves were the goal-scorers for OSU in the win.

Rensselaer at No. 10 Colgate
The Raiders held RPI to just one shot in the first period and 15 overall as they cruised to a 4-1 win. Kendall Williamson scored less than three minutes into the game to put Colgate on the board first. Rosalie Demers’ power-play goal doubled the lead, and Colgate headed into the first intermission up 2-0. Sabrina Repaci had the only goal in the second, cutting the lead for the Engineers, but they were not able to rally. Shae Labbe and Jessie Eldridge scored in the third to clinch the win for Colgate.

Union at No. 10 Colgate
Union jumped out to a 2-0 lead early thanks to a pair of goals from Helen Markovich. It looked like they would take the lead into the period break, but Malia Schneider cut the lead in half just before the buzzer and from there, Colgate took control. Malia Schneider scored twice, and Tanner Gates and Jessie Eldridge each found the back of the net to lead the come-from-behind 5-2 win for Colgate.